Chapter 4 - Advice
Ron slept over all weekend. Hermione had started to get used to his heavy arms draped over her at night as she stared up at the stone ceiling, counting the bricks. She loved being held by Ron. He was tall and muscular, she felt safe tucked in his arms. On Monday morning, the first day of classes, Hermione came back into consciousness at seven in the morning. She was facing Ron and he had his arms wound protectively around hers. She watched his freckled face as he slept and these where her favorite moments during her relationship with Ron. He was so peaceful and blissfully unaware of all of the problems in the world.
She slipped out of his protective embrace and got ready for the day. She took a shower and made herself breakfast before scribbling a note that she placed next to the pillow where her head had been.
Arithmancy – see you at lunch.
Love, Hermione
Ginny got out of her four-poster and stretched. The other girls in her dormitory had already gotten up and headed to breakfast. Ginny didn't eat breakfast. She was never hungry at the crack of dawn and felt the time would be better suited for sleeping. She took a quick shower and dried her hair with the tip of her wand. She stared at herself and contemplated make up, just as she did every morning, and just like all other mornings, she decided against it. The other girls in her year were obsessed with all the make up spells they learned in Witch Weekly, but Ginny never got the hang of them and whenever she tried she wound up looking like a clown.
She pulled on her robes and grabbed her bag before heading down to her morning Transfiguration class. As she walked through the common room, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan jokingly wolf whistled.
"Weasley! Go out with me?" Dean called to her as she climbed through the portrait hole. She smiled and shot them her middle finger. Dean clutched his chest and slid out of his chair as if she had shot him.
As far as anyone knew, Ginny Weasley had never dated anyone, even though she was one of the prettiest girls of the year and asked out by several boys a week. She mostly kept to herself and spent her time hanging out with Hermione and Ron. What most people didn't know, was she had spent a few sleepless nights in an obscure classroom with Luna Lovegood, a sixth year Ravenclaw who was distant and a little weird, kissing up against desks and blackboards. Ginny smiled when she thought about the chalk stains on her favorite skirt that she still hadn't washed off. It wasn't that Ginny didn't like boys, she just wasn't attracted to any of the ones at Hogwarts. Plus, she enjoyed the softness of girls and how she always felt in control during sex. She never wanted someone to try to dominate her, unless she asked first.
Luna had taken the year off from school to travel with her father. They were searching for a rare magical beast in South Africa and her father was "homeschooling" as she called it. Ginny couldn't think of a more perfect place for Luna to be. Luna was too special to be locked up in a castle all day. She sometimes believed Luna was so light and beautiful, she would be carried away by the wind. Someone like that isn't meant to spend her days in a stuffy classroom.
When Ginny arrived at lunch that afternoon, Hermione had taken up their normal spot at the Gryffindor table and spread out several books so that it was hard to find a place to sit down.
"Geez Hermione. It's the first day back," she said, plopping herself down and trying not to knock pumpkin juice all over Hermione's Defense Against the Dark Arts Book.
"I know, but I'm just so excited! My classes for this year are going to be so interesting. And the NEWT coursework is so rigorous." Her face was bright and shiny with joy. Ginny grinned at her. She loved that Hermione got excited over her studies. She remembered the day Hermione had been able to sign up for several new classes at the start of her third year and had never seen anyone happier. "How was your first day back?" Hermione asked.
"Fine," Ginny shrugged. "McGonagall already assigned an essay on nonverbal transfiguration spells. I have to spend the afternoon in the library."
"Oo! I'll join you! I've got to write three feet on predictions for the school year for Arithmancy. I predict it will be long and uneventful – just like every other year," Hermione shrugged. "But I guess I've got to use numbers to prove that."
"I don't know, Dumbledore closed off the dungeons for the year. That's got to mean something doesn't it?" said Ginny. "He has something hidden down there he doesn't want the students to find and that kind of thing doesn't go well for Hogwarts. Kids are too curious." She shrugged.
Hermione nodded and opened her mouth to add something, but Ron arrived to the table. After giving his girlfriend a swift peck on the cheek, he began shoveling food into his mouth.
"Hungry?" Ginny mused, pulling her bag out of the line of fire as food went everywhere.
"Starving. Slept through breakfast," Ron replied between gulps.
"I find that highly unlikely," Hermione giggled and Ron grinned at her.
"Okay, maybe I did eat breakfast. But it was small!"
"So, only half a cow then?" Ginny teased. The trio laughed and Hermione used her napkin to wipe some of the dribbled meat sauce off of Ron's jumper.
"Ms. Matson! Mr. Weasley" A voice called. Hermione turned to see Professor McGonagall coming towards them. "There you are. I trust you've had a good morning back?" They nodded and she continued. "Wonderful, just to let you know, your patrolling schedule for the term – Ms. Matson you are to patrol from ten o'clock in the evening until five o'clock in the morning on Fridays and Mr. Weasley you are to do the same on Sundays. Teachers will be patrolling on the off days. Do those days work for you two?" They nodded again. "Good. Have a good day then. See you two in class tomorrow." She turned and headed back up to the staff table.
"Cool, I don't have to patrol for a whole 'nother week!" Ron said happily. "Sucks for you Hermione, Fridays." She shrugged, she didn't really mind and was glad her day was before the weekend so she didn't have to miss classes catching up on sleep.
"It's so cool to have you guys as Heads. It's like I have an inside guy or something. Guess this means I can stay out all night on Fridays and Sundays huh?" Ginny said. Ron shrugged with indifference, but Hermione scoffed.
"Of course, not Ginny! We are Head Boy and Girl, we can't just let you off for things, we have to set examples and not show favoritism" Hermione said fiercely.
"We'll see," Ginny grinned.
Several hours later, Ginny and Hermione sat among piles of books, working on essays and chatting.
"So," said Ginny, putting down her quill and looking at Hermione with narrowed eyes. "How are things going with Ron?" Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Good," she said. "Fantastic really. He's amazing. Why?"
"Well, to be completely honest, you don't seem happy Hermione. I mean, honestly you are never overly happy unless you're working on piles of homework, but…" Ginny shrugged. "You two don't seem to have any chemistry. The way he was slobbering all over your neck on the train," she paused and folded her arms. "How's the sex?"
Hermione knocked over her ink bottle.
"Shit. Tergeo," she muttered as she siphoned the ink off of her essay. "God, Ginny. You don't have to be crass."
Ginny chuckled. "I'm not. You're having sex with my brother, it's not like I want to know the details. But, I'm here if you want to talk about it," she said looking back down at her parchment.
Hermione looked at her friend for a while. She watched the way her copper hair slid over her shoulders. How the candle light shining through made it look as though her head was on fire. "Okay." She said. She put down her wand and straightened her back. "It's bloody awful."
"Ha! I knew it!" Ginny said giggling.
"He, just, doesn't seem to care about me at all in bed, you know? He is…" she trailed off.
"A selfish prat?" Ginny offered and Hermione nodded.
"He doesn't understand that I may want to get off too. He just sticks his dick in and hits me like a jackhammer until he cums," Hermione said exasperatedly. "I mean, does he really think that feels good for me?" Ginny shrugged.
"I've never had sex with a man, I have no idea what it's supposed to be like," she said, and for a moment Hermione wondered about her choice of words… sex with a man. "But, you need to take control of the situation. Tell him what you want. Ron's sensible. I'm sure if he knew you weren't having a good time he would change it up."
"That's not all. He does this thing where, when he finishes he just leaves his cock inside forever. It's just his flaccid penis sitting in my vagina until he falls asleep and I can push him off." She started laughing and Ginny cackled loudly, other students giving them dirty looks. They got back to work.
Hermione got up to grab a book from the restricted shelves and excused herself from their study table.
"I'll be right back," she told Ginny and headed to the back of the library. She opened up the door to the restricted shelves with her special Head key. This part of the library was always empty, it was very rare to come across other students unless the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor had assigned his sixth and seventh years a dark homework assignment. Hermione was looking for Dark Prophesies: Looking for Answers in Numbers. She was sure that something in her work was off, but it seemed like the numbers were prophesizing a war. That couldn't be possible.
"Dusty back here," Ginny said and Hermione jumped half a foot.
"Fuck Gin, walk louder or something. I think my ghost just left my body," Hermione whispered, hand to her chest. Ginny shrugged and perused the shelves. "What are you doing back here?" Hermione asked.
Ginny shrugged again. "I wanted to tell you something in private." Hermione raised her eyebrows. Ginny wasn't the kind of person to worry about other people hearing her conversations. As she had once said, "Fuck people for eavesdropping, it's not my fault if they hear something they didn't want to."
"I was thinking about your predicament with Ron," she said.
"I know, you said to 'Take control and tell him what I want'," Hermione reminded her. Ginny nodded and ran her fingers down a row of books. "But Gin, I don't know if he'll listen – " She stopped as Ginny stepped closer. The rows of books didn't allow much for walking and they had already been standing close. Now, Ginny was inches from Hermione's face and she could feel the redheaded girl's breath tickling the end of her hairs.
"Take control," Ginny said simply. She ran her thumb across Hermione's left eyebrow and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Hermione felt a tug below her gut and her breath quickened as Ginny placed her hand on the back of Hermione's head, the other on her neck, and brought their mouths together.
It was soft. That was Hermione's first thought. Ginny's mouth was careful and sweet, but it sent shivers down Hermione's spine. They weren't kissing exactly, it was more of Ginny's mouth doing all of the work, but Hermione would have stood there for centuries. Ginny moved closer and Hermione felt the outline of her breasts touch hers. She could feel a warmth gathering between her thighs and would have given a million galleons for the feeling of Ginny's soft mouth there. Ginny pulled away and Hermione stood silently, up against old, musty books, with her eyes still closed. When she opened them Ginny was gone, but her underwear wouldn't be dry for hours.